T is for...

T is for trees! Not to rub it in Lara's face, but the trees are starting to change with the cooler weather and the hills are getting beautiful.

I've got two great views on my way to work that crest a hilltop and look out over the surrounding hills.  It's been really great to watch as the tress change colors and decorate the hills.

Llama Face!

 

Well, I guess, it's really an alpaca face, not a llama face.   But "alpaca face" doesn't really roll off the tongue as well.

So somewhere in the magic of the InterWeb, I found an ad for the Alpaca Owners' and Breeders' Association's (AOBA) National Alpaca Farm Days event.  Basically, it was a big open-house at your local alpaca farm to come and pet the fluffies.  I've never heard of it before, but I live out in the country and people have farms out here, so I figured there had to be an alpaca farm out here.  I dragged John out today (in the rain) to pet the 'pacas... and buy some yarn.  :)

 

I felt bad for the farmers today because the weather was so horrible that what should have been a good-sized event was very... very small.  We were there, another family with small children, a couple who were friends of the farmers, and then one last couple arrived as we were leaving.  It wasn't raining very hard at all, but it was drizzling pretty steadily all day.  Just enough to keep you inside if you weren't a crazy knitter in need of some good alpaca homespun.  :)

 

There were several noticeable things during out visit:

1 - Before we noticed the 'pacas, we noticed what I like to call the Big Effing Dogs.  :)

 

 Farmer said that they are Great Pyrenees, bred to be herd protectors.  And when we walked out to the main herd in the field, this one got up from by the barn and calmly followed us out to the herd.  Friendly dog, but definitely curious about what we were doing with his alpacas.  (You can see in the other pictures how big the 'pacas are compared to us, and thus how BIG these dogs are!)

2 - Alpacas are highly organized.

 See? They not only line up for the food bin, but they do so chromatically!  How fabulous is this?

And yes, I got some chocolate yarn for gloves for John (made from Mojave) and I got a two-tone tan/white yarn for something for myself (from Mojave, Sugar, and Pintura).  I met Pintura, too.  I am now one of those crazy knitters that knows the animal her yarn comes from.  :)

I just need to say that I have the best boyfriend in the world. I got "flowers for no reason" flowers today. :) Yes, I know I am spoiled.

S is for...

S is for Shower Curtains!  Woot Woot! The craziness of owning a new house continues.  Well, this did happen back in June, but I think it is worthy of posting.  

So back when we were painting the house, I had this moment of insanity that John indulged. I looked up halfway through one of the main rooms that we were painting the neutral tan, and I decided that it would be cool to paint all the bathrooms different colors.  I know, I could have blamed it on the paint fumes, but we were using latex paint.  I think it turned out great though, and I still like my bathrooms.  :)  I grabbed several paint chip choices and John narrowed down the field, and we ended up with lavender in the basement, mauve in the guest room, and sea-foam in the master bath (the half-bath downstairs was already done in tan at this point, so we left it alone).  The only thing I would change would have been to do the purple in the master bath, but John wanted neither a pink nor purple bathroom.  I wasn't going to be THAT girlfriend, but I love that purple bathroom!  I don't know why.

Soooo... in the first afternoon or so after we moved in officially, we realized that we did not have all those little things that go in a bathroom, like bath mats, cups, trashcans, and shower curtains.  oopsie.  Off I run to Target for a ridiculously-priced bathroom shopping spree.  I can back laden with the basic necessities for four bathrooms, but I might have splurged a little on the shower curtains.  Now, when I say splurge, I don't mean buying the $40 curtains (they were there, believe me), but I feel that what I paid for them was a little excessive for just a big sheet of fabric.  Nevertheless, I like them all.  And the green one even matches the wall color!

  

 

SQUEAL!

We are now officially playing Batman: Arkham Asylum.  And by "we," I mean John is playing and I am sitting here with imdb.com open, checking out all the voice actors as they come.  :)  Hey, Lara's not laughing at me when I say that.  Well, I won't go deep into the game-review of it all, since there are thousands of them out there done by more gamer-techie people (and since we just started playing and aren't too far into the game).  Needless to say, the game is deeeeelicious and the mechanics are very visually attractive.  So here's a run-down of all the yummy yummy voices (a topic I feel is just as important as anything else):

 - Kevin Conroy = Batman.  And that's not just a little symbol, Kevin Conroy IS Batman.  If you grew up watching any (and I do mean ANY) animated Batman series since 1992, then Kevin Conroy is the voice.  He is delicious!  Seriously, he could read me the phone book, in his Batman voice or not.  mmmm...  (Anne goes to her happy place)

- Mark Hamill - Joker.  Yes, I do mean Mark Hamill as in Luke Skywalker.  Apparently being a Jedi lets you tap into deep reserves of crazy.  And, he is the voice of Joker since forever.  And don't worry if you can't hear Luke in it, I never have been able to.

 - Arleen Sorkin - Harleen Quinzel.  She, too, has been the voice of Harley Quinn since 1993.  The game producers hold a special place in my heart for raiding the Andrea Romano voice actors.

- Tom Kane - Commissioner Jim Gordon / Warden Quincy Sharp / Amadeus Arkham / Louie Green.  Most recently he's been Mr Herriman of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, but he's also been Magneto in the new Wolverine and the X-Men, Yoda in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Professor Utonium from Powerpuff Girls, and Lord Monkey Fist from Kim Possible.... among many others (voice actors are whores for jobs, if you weren't aware).  Warden Sharp is pure Mr. Herriman; it's a little weird to listen to.  I keep seeing a very large bunny bouncing around.  Gordon at least is a little harsher and gravelly-er.

 - Steven Blum - Killer Croc / Ian Kennedy / Jordan Fraser.  Another delicious favorite of mine and Lara's.  He specializes in those dark, deep voiced guys AEB being Wolverine in 8 incarnations, Batman in the Lego Batman game, Mugen from Samurai Champloo, Roger Smith from Big O, and (our favorite) Spike from Cowboy Bebop. He also has major roles in .hack//, Naruto, Afro Samurai, Witch Hunter Robin, GTO, Yu Yu Hakusho, Fushigi Yuugi, 3x3 Eyes, and Wolf's Rain.  Like I said, voice actors get around.  Basically, if he's got a deep voice, the safe bet is that it's Steven Blum.

 - Danny Jacobs - Victor Zsasz / Frank Boles / Robert Stirling.  Not famous (most of his credits are "additional voices"), but funny because his main role was King Julien from the Madagascar tv series spinoff. You know, the effeminate, "I am the King! I have the hat!" lemur?  Yeaaahhhh.... not really lunatic material.

- Dino Andrade - The Scarecrow.  Not much interesting here, but he was Skull (the Troll) from PVP: The Animated Series.  Funny for the followers of  PVP.  :)

 - Tasia Valenzia - Poison Ivy / Martha Wayne.  She's been around, but nothing major.  Though, she was on a few different soap operas before she went to voice acting.  Arleen Sorkin was a soap actress, too.   What is it about soap stars becoming voice actors?  Should we look deep into our image-fixated society and suggest that women who can no longer be the pretty young thing in a TV show are forced into roles where they don't ever show their faces?

- Fred Tatasciore -  Bane / Carl Todd.  Apparently, another master of the "deep and gravelly" school of voices.  :)  His first 10 roles on imdb.com show Hulk, Bane, Solomon Grundy, and misc Transformers, haha; and he is Beast in the new Wolverine and the X-Men.  Must also be very flexible, as he is "misc" in a lot of shows, including Family Guy and Robot Chicken.



 - Cree Summers - Dr Penny Young. Easily recognizable as Numbah 5 from Codename Kids Next Door, Foxxy Love from Drawn Together, and Max from Batman Beyond.  But did you know she started out as Penny on Inspector Gadget before moving on to Elmyra in Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs?

 -Adrienne Barbeau - Arkham Voice / Gretchen Whistler.  First famous for Maude (before my time, sorry), but another classic B:AS voice: Catwoman!  I guess they still liked her, even though Selina wasn't in Arkham.

 - Chris Cox - Misc.  Besides GOBS of game voices, he was Seth McFarlane's George W. Bush voice for both Family Guy and American Dad. haha.

 - Roger Rose - Misc.  Lots of roles, but best to mention that he started out in 1962 in the original Jetsons.

 - Keith Ferguson - Stephen Kellerman / TV Voice.  Foster's Blooregard!  'nuff said.  (Wait, does that count as a DC/ Marvel crossover illegality?  Sorry)




Oh - and due to an in-game clip, be sure to check out http://arkhamcare.com/  They made a website for a fictional asylum!  How great it that?  (arkhamcare.com/prices is a hoot!)